Why Figure Skating, Gymnastics Face Unique Copyright Issues

In February 2022, the band Heavy Young Heathens filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against figure skaters Alexa Knierim and Brandon Frazier, alleging that the duo had infringed their cover of the song House of the Rising Sun.

Knierim and Frazier used the song as part of their short program, winning them and the United States their first silver medal in a team skating event.

The lawsuit, which also targeted U.S. Figure Skating and NBC, was eventually settled for an undisclosed amount. However, as a recent article by Talia Barrington at Slate points out, the lawsuit sent shockwaves through the figure skating community.

As it turns out, many of the sports’ standard practices raise potentially serious copyright issues. To make matters worse, figure skating isn’t alone. The same is true for Gymnastics, artistic swimming, cheerleading, ballroom dance and other sports that use popular music.

Sadly for performers, these issues are no longer theoretical. They pose severe challenges for performers and officials alike, with few, if any, easy answers.

The Problem with Music Licensing and Sports

As we’ve discussed before, music licensing is incredibly complicated. Every song has two separate copyrights to worry about: One for the composition (the written version of the song) and one for the recording or performance.

However, both the composition and the recording have multiple license types that users may need. In the case of figure skating and other artistic sports, the focus is on two separate licenses that deal with the song’s composition.

The first is the public performance license. Since the song is performed in a public space, there needs to be a license for that performance. This one is fairly straightforward. These licenses are handled by performing rights organizations (PROs). This is usually the responsibility of the venue, not the performer, and is relatively easy to obtain.

The challenge comes with the synchronization license. Since these sports all involve creating routines synchronized to popular music, a synchronization license is also required.

However, synchronization licenses don’t have PROs overseeing licensing. These licenses are typically negotiated directly with the copyright holder, either the composer or their publisher.

Barrington’s article highlighted the work of ClicknClear, a service that helps obtain music licenses for choreographed events. While it’s a significant improvement, not every song is available through the service, and many tracks have limitations. These include time limitations, country restrictions and restrictions on using the song in video.

That’s because a synchronization license to create and perform a routine to a song does not necessarily grant a right to stream it or broadcast it.

While ClicknClear is undoubtedly a major leap forward, it’s still a complicated process that most performers are unfamiliar with. However, that may have to change.

Changing the Mindset

One of the challenges in dealing with this issue is that, for many athletes, this feels like a new problem.

Most organizations have rules around when and how competitors must submit songs. However, as Barrington’s article points out, that often never involved a copyright license. Ahead of the 2024 Olympics in Paris, teams were told to clear music licensing through ClicknClear just months before the event.

Because of that, the Olympics forced some teams to change their music right before the games.

However, athletes often work on routines months or even years before competitions. A last-minute change can be devastating. Athletes, coaches and officials must consider these issues throughout the preparation process.

But that isn’t the only challenge these sports face. Online presence is a major component of promoting any sport. It’s how you reach current and potential fans. However, most online platforms seek out and either remove or demonetize videos with copyright-protected music.

Even when teams get licenses for the performance, those licenses may not include online streaming. If they include streaming, that license may have time or regional limits.

But even if the ilcense is complete, automated systems may still flag licensed songs. This can be a challenge to deal with, especially for someone unfamiliar with the systems.

This is going to be a significant change for these sports. Luckily, good progress has been made in simplifying the process. Still, performers must change their process for selecting songs to choreograph routines to.

Picking the right song now has an added layer, namely whether they are able to obtain a license for it.

Bottom Line

The big question is: Why is this a problem now?

After all, these sports have largely operated without synchronization licenses for decades. Why is it an issue now?

To be clear, there were some warning signs. Barrington points to a 2011 lawsuit filed by Sony Music against companies that distributed mix tape-style videos of cheerleader performances. However, the lawsuit didn’t directly target performers or competitions.

Instead, synchronization licenses have become much more important broadly with the rise of YouTube and video on social media. For example, music companies have been aggressively targeting other corporations that use protected songs in social media promotions. We’ve also seen the rise of companies like Kobalt, which both provide sync licensing and file lawsuits over alleged infringements.

Synchronization licensing has become a much more critical part of the music industry in recent years. Unfortunately, this means that some athletes also fall under the crosshairs.

To be clear, lawsuits over this are still rare. However, there are other potential consequences to consider. These include videos being taken down or muted and possibly losing access to YouTube or social media accounts.

The only way to prevent copyright from being an issue is to be proactive. Licensing tracks and following the terms of those licenses is vital.

I recognize that this isn’t a small thing to ask. Copyright, in particular musical copyright, is complicated and confusing. But putting in the effort now can prevent major headaches down the road.

Simply put, the time to learn is before a problem arises. Not after.